Pre-FIA European Finals Run What You Brung
Santa Pod Raceway, 1st September 2002

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17:15

We're all done here at Santa Pod. The last couple of racer runs today were an 8.85/160.04 by Super Street Bike racer Mark Fisher, and Harriet Nicholls ran a 16.40/37.30 in the SPR Junior Dragster.

We will be at Press Day on Wednesday, so tune back then and we'll let you know what occurs. Thanks for tuning in today - see you in a few days' time.

16:00

Today's pictures are now available, you can get to them from the event index page.

Jamie Sneddon will be a very happy bunny indeed after running 8.88/164.59 on Mark Fisher's Super Street Bike. A much straighter run than previously although still not arrow-straight but that of course is what Jamie specialises in.

Stuart Peck had a bit of a wild ride in the Rat Rage Camaro, leaving before the lights ran and then the car was twitching every time he hit the throttle. Ritchie in the VW is still pulling nice big wheelies off the start line, his latest pass a 12.23/109.60.

It's beginning to calm down here at SPR, the fire-up road is now running freely. We think we have about an hour or so to go, stay tuned and we'll bring you more news before we finish.

16:00

Phil Brachtvogel just put in his third pass on Jon Morton's Top Fuel Bike. The last pass was meant to be 1000 feet, but Phil told us that he looked down to be sure of hitting the shift button, when he looked up he saw a cone and so thought he was at 1000 feet - but actually he was at the eighth.

Another fine, straight pass from Phil, 7.43/148.50. The incrementals were:

1.06 reaction
60 foot 1.170
330 feet 3.050
Eighth 4.605/156.38
1000 feet 5.993

Steve Venables' latest pass on his SSB netted him an 8.52/171.96, whilst Fast Harry clocked his first nine of the day at 9.99/135.81. Jamie Sneddon ran a lot straighter on Mark Fisher's SSB to a 9.11/159.01.

Stuart Peck was on and off the throttle of the Rat Rage Camaro clocking 11.00/120.40 on his latest pass, whilst Ricky Emms and Tom Watts paired up again and ran 9.12/71.86 and 11.12/58.30 respectively.

Stay tuned.

15:00

Phil Brachtvogel's second pass on Jon Morton's Top Fuel Bike netted him a 7.79/122.83, a very straight half pass. The tune-up seemed harder than last time but Phil was not on the throttle for so long. No incrementals this time as your reporter was not in Race Control (sorry).

Al Cook put in a very consistent 7.89/167.81 on his Pro Stock Bike, Paul King shut off on the line leaking fluid. Steve Venables put in another mid-eight on his Super Street Bike running 8.47/170.40 whilst Jamie Sneddon took another turn on Mark Fisher's SSB, not the straightest pass in the world and almost collecting the timing reflectors on a 9.36/145.88. Other SSBs running recently have been Rachel Pattison 9.51/161.61, Dave Bailey 9.72/137.91, and Pete Bellenie 9.56/144.58. 9.90 Bike racer Steve Ingham clocked 9.91/139.64 with a .51 reaction.

Stuart Peck has taken his first run in the refettled Rat Rage Camaro, which Anne tells us has a new Jeff Bull engine and a rear end which has been built by Hauser Race Cars. Stuart had the front end up on his first pass of 13.08/95.33 and has just run a 12.26/81.22. Spencer Tramm tells us that the wheelying VW is driven by a guy named Ritchie. On his last pass Ritchie pulled the front end up again and clocked 12.27/108.67. "He's not a member of the Volkswagen Drag Racing Club - yet" said Spencer. Sportsman ET racer Darren Hulkes' latest pass was a 12.57/108.13. Mick Smith still hasn't managed to take out your reporter, his last run was a 1.13 RT, 14.82/95.41.

The Santa Pod Junior Dragster is today being driven by Harriet Nicholls who is the daughter of one of the American Car Imports Racing TMD crew. Harriet is learning the ropes well with a 17.41/36.93 on her last pass. Also in JD, Ricky Emms and Tom Watts faced off again with Ricky clocking 8.90/71.92 to Tom's 11.17/57.92.

13:00

Mark Fisher has taken a turn on his SSB and clocked 8.61/169.95, a new PB, those SSBs certainly like the track today. Rachel Pattison got very close to the eights on her SSB with a 9.06/159.22. We have another bike with us today which looks like an SSB but we've not been able to identify it yet, a silver bike with 21 on the back which has run as quickly as 9.39/156.50. Fast Harry is obviously learning fast on the 9.90 Bike, a 10.10/135.02 on his last pass.

Another vehicle which we haven't yet identified is a soft-topped yellow VW Beetle which is leaving the line wheels-up and recording twelves, the last pass a 12.29/109.16. Our good buddy Spencer Tramm, who knows his VWs, is about somewhere so I'm sure we'll be able to get a name for you.

Ricky Emms and Tom Watts went head-to-head in their Junior Dragsters, Ricky running 9.08/72.38 to Tom's 11.16/58.12. The Opel GT carrying Wild Bunch numbers stepped up again with an 11.48/126.65.

We're now on a lunch break, give us about an hour and we'll have some more news for you.

12:40

Phil Brachtvogel has just put in his first pass on Jon Morton's Top Fuel Bike. A very nice burnout and then a thundering pass. The bike drifted a little left during the pass but Phil had it covered, there was a little hesitation in the engine note at about half-track and Phil got off the throttle by a thousand feet. It's like he's never been away. Race Control was full of tear gas so we guess that there was a nice safe tune-up in the engine. The incrementals were as follow:

60 feet 1.254
Eighth 4.854/147.77
1000 feet 6.278
ET/Speed 7.79/137.53

Next up in that lane was Super Street Bike racer Steve Venables who looks to have demolished his PB with an 8.45/171.73. Pete Bellenie went next on his SSB and clocked 9.44/167.51.

Darren Hulkes' second pass in his Close Call Camaro was 12.43/108.30 with a .71 RT.

More soon.

12:00

It's heaving here at Santa Pod. The queue for the fire-up road is now back to the Pod Shop. There are a fair number of racers here, as our stroll round the pits revealed.

Junior Dragster racer Ricky Emms is testing new parts after doing a fuel pump, clutch and inlet valve at the Fallnationals. "We want to get it consistent", said Ricky's dad Chris. "We still have the lead in the National Championship but it's getting smaller and we want to keep it. Ricky's first pass was a 9.00/72.82 with a 0.68 RT. Charlotte and Tom Watts are also here, their first match-up resulted in an 11.29/57.15 for Tom, Charlotte broke off the line.

9.90 Bike racer Dave Stanley's Crew Chief Fast Harry is now riding the bike. "I know how to tune it but I have to learn how to ride it", he said. "I've already got into the nines". Harry's first run was an 11.09/117.05, after which he came back and said "It would help if I switched the fuel on!".

Pro Stock Bike racers Al Cook and Paul King are here to test and just as I was typing the above paragraph Cooky ran a superb 7.88/168.11 which we think is a new personal best. Paul's bike broke off the line.

9.90 Bike racer Jamie Sneddon is today taking runs down the strip on Mark Fisher's Super Street Bike. Mark is building Jamie a new SSB for next season - we suspect that Jamie will fit right into the class! Jamie's first run on the bike was a 9.76/154.81 which was by no means straight. "It's a bit slippery out there", said Jamie. His second pass was a 9.74/132.61.

We have a couple of members of the Wild Bunch here with us today. A yellow Opel GT whose driver's name we have yet to ascertain (sorry mate) who has run 12.06/121.39 and an altered, WB21 which ran a very troubled 28.02/42.31.

Here but not yet out on track are Anne and Stuart Peck with their Rat Rage Camaro which has all sorts of new parts. The car is entered in both Super Gas and Super Street next weekend.

Keith Ridley has put in a 14.95/88.52 in his Reliant Scimitar, and 9.90 Bike racer Steve Ingham a 10.02/139.34.

Finally, Ford is beating Mopar 2-1 so far in the broken-down-on-the-track stakes.

Stay tuned, as Jon Morton's Top Fuel Bike is lined up behind race control (and a beautiful bike it is too). We'll be back soon with news of the first pass.

10:30

Hello and welcome from Santa Pod Raceway on a beautiful summer's day. It's the last Run What You Brung before the FIA European Finals and a number of racers are here to get in some last-minute testing. We'll be keeping an eye on things and bringing you all the action in association with American Car Imports.

A Sunday morning hello to our good buddies Ed O'Connell and Kathy Hileman in Rye, USA, and also to Steve and Jacky Young who are doubtless out there somewhere, tuned in as always.

Jon Morton has his Top Fuel Bike here to test today, the hot news is that Phil Brachtvogel will be riding the bike for this outing. Phil, as you doubtless remember, was the previous owner of the Top Fuel Bike now campaigned by Ian King, so if you want someone to test out your TFB for you then there are few better.

Super Street Bike racers Peter Bellenie and Dave Bailey are on the premises. Pete is here to try to cure the problem of his bike dying off the line. He has disconnected the lcd dash display, if that doesn't cure it then he will be disconnecting the stutter box. Dave Bailey is trying out a new Paul Wing slider clutch and has just clocked 9.66/135.72.

Mick 'the Fish' Smith is here in his street 'Vette, a very nice piece of kit. Mick has (again) vowed to join the Let's Get Tog Club. As your reporter is in Race Control this will be quite some feat for which Mick has been offered a £10 prize. Mick tells us that Jeff Bull is currently building a small block for the car, and that 'Creosote' is building a gearbox. Mick's first pass netted him a 15.42/94.19 with a 1.09 reaction.

Sportsman ET racer Darren Hulkes' first pass was preceded by an excellent burnout. A .61 RT and a 12.49/108.85 was the result of the first run. Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Steve Pateman's crew Thomas is here with his street Cortina and put in a very tidy 15.06/86.99 on his last pass, with a 0.70 RT. Andy Robinson's son Luke is also here in his Anglia, running low twenties.

We're now off for a walk round the pits, stay tuned and we'll be back later with more of today's news.